Computers are affecting all of us in one way or another - and they’ll do so 
more and more as the years go by. They’re finding their way into banks, 
offices, shops, schools, onto the factory floor and now into the home. 

As everything else goes up in price, computer power is the one commodity 
which is becoming cheaper each year, bringing the personal microcomputer 
now within the reach of an increasingly large number of people. 

What does the computer mean to you? 

An opportunity? A threat? A mystery? Something only for young people? 
Something surrounded in incomprehensible gobbledegook? Gas bills? Space 
Invaders? Something to increase the efficiency of your business? A challenging 
new hobby?

Whatever your view, this book will help you to learn what it’s all about - what 
this hitherto mysterious technology could mean for you or your children.

Do you know a RAM from a ROM? Do big computers and the very small 
ones work in the same way? What is binary code? What is BASIC? Can 
anyone learn it?

Even more confused? Then this could be the book for you. It attempts to 
answer these questions and many more. It is written for the layman. Using 
plain English it explains what computers do for us in the modern world, how 
and why they have developed and how they work. It looks at the business of 
problem solving and reminds us that computers don’t solve problems, we do. 

It provides an introduction to programming and to what it’s like to own a 
personal microcomputer. It explores how the microcomputer can be used as 
a tool in a whole range of areas as well as leading to a compelling new hobby 
and a lot of fun for young and old. Finally it takes a look into the future to 
see where this technological revolution might be taking us and what its 
limitations are.